GM resource
Session zero for Shadowrun 6th Edition
Set expectations, tone, and table agreements. Session zero for Shadowrun 6E sets the table before the dice matter: agree on tone (cyberpunk-fantasy shadowrunning), safety boundaries, and what each player wants from the game.
Checklist
- Talk through tone and boundaries: how hard the table wants to lean into what makes Shadowrun 6E distinct (cyberpunk-fantasy shadowrunning).
- Walk the group through the core roll mechanic together so nobody is guessing at the table: Shadowrun 6E rolls d6 dice pools: Attribute + Skill dice, counting 5s and 6s as hits against a threshold. Glitches (more than half the dice showing 1s) complicate even successes, and Edge lets you reroll, add dice, or bend outcomes.
- Collect character concepts and connect them to each other before the first scene.
- Agree on logistics (session length, cadence) and which safety tools the table will use.
Common pitfalls
- Skipping the tone talk and hitting a mismatch mid-campaign
- Running session zero as pure character creation with no table agreements
- No shared safety-tool agreement before the first high-intensity scene